1. Component 1: Section A
L.O. – What do we need to know for succeeding in the examination for Component 1: Section A?

2. Component 1 – There are two sections: Section A and Section B
The examination is 2 hours and 15 minutes
It is worth 35% of your A Level grade (worth 90 marks)
You will spend approximately 1 hour 15 minutes on Section A
This is because you will have unseen texts to focus on and link it to your set texts

3. Section A (45 marks): Analysing Media Language and Representation
Set texts:
Advertising and Marketing: Tide, Wateraid and Kiss of the Vampire
Music Video: Formation by Beyonce and Riptide by Vance Joy
Newspapers: The Daily Mail (10/11/16) and The Times (10/11/16)

4. Section A will be structured in a way similar to this:
Remember: one question will assess representation and the other media language…we don’t know which!

5. Examples of questions 1 and 2 for Component 1: Section A

6. Section A: Analysing Media Language and Representation
Answer all questions from both sections.
Section A: Analysing Media Language and Representation
Representation
Question 1 is based on the unseen audio-visual resource and the Tide advertisement you have studied.
The audio-visual resource consists of a television advertisement which advertises a popular cleaning product, made in 2016.
You will be allowed one minute to read Question 1.
The advertisement will be played three times.
First viewing: watch the advertisement.
Second viewing: watch the advertisement and make notes.
You will then have five minutes to make further notes.
Third viewing: watch the advertisement and make final notes.
Once the third viewing has finished, you should answer Question 1.
Compare how audiences are positioned by the representations in the cleaning product advertisement and the Tide advertisement you have studied. [30]
consider how the representations construct versions of reality
consider the similarities and differences in how audiences are positioned by the representation
make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the representations relate to relevant media contexts

7. Media Language
Question 2 is based on Resource A, the front page of The Mirror newspaper (November 2016) and the front page of The Guardian newspaper (November 2016). Study the resources carefully and use both front pages when answering the question.
How does media language incorporate viewpoints and ideologies in these front pages of The Mirror and The Guardian? [15]

8. Looks easy?
You have to remember lots of information about the set texts, context of the texts, as well as complex theories that can be applied in our analysis to the text…as well as answering the examiner’s question effectively.
This will be far from easy, but it will be challenging, fun and interesting!

9. Use these slide as a check list for each of the media texts you study for Component 1

10. What do we need to know about the texts’ context?
Historical contexts including:
the dynamic and historically relative nature of the genre
the effect of historical context on representations
Social and cultural contexts including:
the effect of social and cultural contexts on representations
how and why particular social groups may be under-represented or misrepresented
Economic contexts including:
production, distribution and circulation in a global context
the significance of patterns of ownership and control, funding and regulation
Political contexts including:
how media products reflect the political contexts in which they are made through their representations, values and messages, and through aspects of their ownership and political orientation

11. Theories
…this bit is difficult. You need to be able to remember these theories, who created them and how to apply them to the set texts and the unseen texts the examiner will offer us in the examination.
You will also need to evaluate the theories, meaning that you need to question and critique them.

12. (this is where your wider reading will come in to play)
The following theories must be studied, alongside other theories that might be relevant
(this is where your wider reading will come in to play)

13. Framework Area Theories Media Language Representation
Semiotics – including Barthes
Narratology – including Todorov
Genre theory – including Neale
Structuralism – including Lévi-Strauss
Postmodernism – including Jean Baudrillard
Representation
Representation – Stuart Hall Identity – including David Gauntlett
Gender performivity – including Butler
Feminist theory – including van Zoonen and bell hooks
Ethnicity and postcolonial theory – including Gilroy

14. Remind yourself of the Summary of Assessment you were given in September

15. Assessment Objectives (you must keep these in mind, as this is what the examiner will be marking your work against)
 AO1 – Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
the theoretical framework of media
contexts of media and their influence on media products and processes
AO2 – Apply knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media to:
analyse media products, including in relation to their contexts and through the use of academic theories
evaluate academic theories
make judgements and draw conclusions
AO3 – Create media products for an intended audience, by applying knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media to communicate meaning AO3 is for COURSEWORK ONLY

16. Do we only need to study the set texts for Component 1: Section A?NO
You will know the set texts well
You will also need to get used to analysing new products
The examination focuses on textual analysis and will give you an unseen text
We need to develop our knowledge and understanding of applying analytical skills and theoretical perspectives to a wide range of media texts